Well, thanks to your suggestions, I went to my library, searched for just about all the authors you recommended, and found only two books from that whole list, which I borrowed.

"Angel in the House," Mike Ripley. I know is late in the series, but what can you do? Just started it. Reminds a bit of Nick Hornsby. Taking quite awhile to get the plot going.

"The Toyminator," Robert Rankin. I know this is a sequel, but, again, what can you do? I'm enjoying this as an "exercise bike" reader. I don't know how long Rankin has been around, but here he seems to be borrowing riffs from EVERYONE--Adams, Fforde, Pterry, Pixar, Milne, "Roger Rabbit," and more. Like Fforde, he tries a bit too hard to be clever, but, unlike Fforde, he gets away with it because he's a better joke teller.

I've a bunch of other Rankins on loan order from other libraries.

What kills me is that NONE of them have any of the Tom Sharpe books that have produced in the past decade. Neither do any U.S. stores. I'm probably going to have to shell out through Amazon.ca for them.

Yes they're mostly all 70's-80's for Mr. Sharpe but he's got another Wilt one coming out next year I think (The Wilt Inheritance - it's on his entry in wiki anyway (I may have already linked you to that in this thread actually

"Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.” George Bernard Shaw

Actually you may find that Fforde copied the Rankin chappie particually in style from "The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse" allegedly and used a particular phrase I have never seen anyone else use and this was in Fforde's first published book 2001 whereas Rankin was published in 1981 with "The Antipope" 1st in the Brentford triogly.

He willnae tak' a drink! I think he's deid! , on the other hand though A Midgie in yir hand is worth twa up yir kilt.

Just got "Chocolate Bunnies" on loan from another library and you're right--it came out in 2002. When did Fforde's first book come out? Or, more specifically, when did his first Nursery Series book come out? That series, more than the Thursday Next series, is far more derivative of Rankin's style.

Then again, Fforde is just about the most derivative writer out there. His trajectory of quality is the total reverse of PTerry's. With "The Eyre Affair" he started off derivative and strong, and each book has gotten progressive worse until today they're hardly readable at all.

Penfold wrote:'Round Ireland With A Fridge' and 'Playing The Moldovans At Tennis' by Tony Hawks a pretty good fun, especially as they are true stories. I think they are being made into films as well.

I'd second these recommendations - Tony Hawks is brilliant. Looking at my bookshelves, I was surprised how many of my humorous books are non-fiction - anything by Bill Bryson is a scream, and I also very much enjoyed 'Narrow Dog to Carcassonne' by Terry Darling, and its follow-up, 'Narrow Dog to Indian River'.

On the fiction front, I like Ben Elton, also Christopher Brookmyre, my favourites being 'All Fun and Games Until Somebody Loses an Eye' and 'One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night'. Nick Hornby is good and I particularly enjoyed his latest, 'Juliet, Naked'.

If you're familiar with Wodehouse, Waugh and other classic British novelists, can I presume you've read 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons and 'I Capture the Castle' by Dodie Smith? Both are highly recommended.

"The City of Dreaming Books" by Walter Moers, with illustrations by the author. All of Moers' books take place in the crazy world of Zamonia, which makes the discworld look absolutely normal in comparison. This is his masterpiece though, in my opinion. I read the German original; it must have been quite difficult to translate it.
"Memoirs Found in a Bathtub" by Stanslaw Lem. Lem is usually tagged as sci-fi, but the tag does not quite fit him. One thing is for sure though: Many of Lem's book are hilarious, and this one is no exception. The humor here is very Kafkaesque though; The story idea is quite simple: A man is sent out on a mission to find his mission, but the more he looks for it the less he understands and the more absurd everything becomes. The book certainly is funny, but in a very dark way. Lem's books always make me regret I can't read Polish; there must be so much which gets lost in translation.

Penfold wrote:'Round Ireland With A Fridge' and 'Playing The Moldovans At Tennis' by Tony Hawks a pretty good fun, especially as they are true stories. I think they are being made into films as well.

Hey Penfold. First time I have read this thread (with my recent addiction to this site and the posts which has inspired a rereading of DW books; oh yeah and real life and kids and work) I haven't been actively looking for new books just at the moment. .... . BUT I came across Playing the Moldovians At Tennis a few weeks ago in a charity shop book section (Del you are only allowed to buy ONE book... you are too busy). Read the first page IN the store and was laughing so much I HAD to buy it. It was funny but I found I could easily put it down. I did finish it though (my litmus test is to read the last page first and see if I want to find out how he got to the last page). Looking forward to Round Ireland With a Fridge. Funny. I never thought I would be saying "OH! YOU have read 'Playing The Moldovians At Tennis' too huh?"